Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell on August 19, 2011 in New York City. (Getty Images)

(Newser)
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Stocks soared at the open today, with the Dow climbing 188 points as of 9:35am, and the S&P and Nasdaq gaining 21 and 50 points, respectively. Fueling the optimism: speculation that the Federal Reserve’s speech on Friday will bring a new round of measures to bolster the economy, according to Bloomberg. “The market is expecting another round of asset purchases and it will come,” one trader said. “There are some bargain hunters out there.”

Markets were also buoyed by gains in Europe, where the Stoxx Europe 600 was up 1.7%, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of course, the gains followed last week’s dizzying losses, which saw the Dow fall 593 points over its final two sessions. “People just want to stop the pain,” said one money manager. “Yes, the market is getting cheaper and cheaper, but not many people really care about valuations right now. Investors are concerned about a recession.”